


la sylphide

by euphorickiri



Series: rina week 2020 [4]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Rina Week 2020 (HSM: The Series), Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24210019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphorickiri/pseuds/euphorickiri
Summary: gina was never a big fan of ballet.but with one show, and one particular dancer, she starts to change her mind.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter, Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Series: rina week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741261
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	la sylphide

Gina loved all types of dance, don’t get her wrong. Hip-hop was her favorite but she still appreciated other forms of dance.

But when it came to ballet, she didn’t understand.

It’s not like Gina was bad at it. Her ballet teacher claimed she was a natural, but after one class Gina dropped out. Her step-sister, Ashlyn, stayed, even if she wasn’t very good. It was just so _boring_ to her. Hip-hop got her adrenaline going and she was very passionate about it. Even watching other people perform was exhilarating. Ballet never did that for her. 

Until the night of Ashlyn’s first - and last - ballet performance. 

Gina loved Ashlyn a lot, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. When her mom married Ashlyn’s dad, things were awkward between them at first, but they quickly got over that and bonded. EJ lived across the street from them and came over almost every day. Even if he was Ashlyn’s cousin, Gina considered him to be her brother. They were all close and would do anything for each other.

But when Ashlyn asked Gina about her ballet show, she immediately tried to find an excuse not to go. It’s not like she didn’t want to be there for Ashlyn. But as soon as Gina found out Ashlyn was only going to be on stage for a short amount of time, she didn’t see the point. The show didn’t sound familiar at _all_ and Gina didn’t think she had the strength to sit through an almost two-hour-long show. 

But then Ashlyn used her puppy dog eyes, and Gina knew she couldn’t say no. 

EJ teased her the entire ride to the theater, which earned him a smack upside the head. Their parents went ahead with Ashlyn since she was nervous, so that left Gina with EJ and his parents. She groaned when she saw how crowded the theater was, already regretting this. 

“You can at least pretend like you want to be here,” EJ teased as they sat down.

Gina glared at him. “You’re the actor, not me. As soon as I see Ashlyn, I’m falling asleep for the rest of the show.”

EJ rolled his eyes at her dramatics but didn’t say anything else. Gina looked through the pamphlet for the show they got when they arrived. La Sylphide sounded like a snooze-fest just from the name _alone_. Gina sighed and leaned back in her seat, waiting for the show to start so they could get this over with. Her parents found them in the crowd as soon as the lights dimmed. Gina’s mom was whispering something about Ashlyn throwing up backstage, and she was ready to fall asleep as soon as she heard. Of course Gina was worried about her sister. But if that meant Ashlyn wasn’t even going to perform? She didn’t see the point of staying awake. 

But before she could close her eyes, that’s when she saw him. 

From where Gina was sitting, she couldn’t see his face that well. He was sitting on a chair pretending to be asleep, his brown curls covering his face. A girl came out in a white dress and started to dance around him, but Gina didn’t even look her way. She didn’t know why she was so captivated. He was just sitting in a _chair_. But she couldn’t bring herself to look away. Her breath hitched when he stood up, looking around the stage. 

When he started dancing, Gina couldn’t even begin to describe how she felt.

He moved gracefully across the stage, his body moving like water. Gina couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. Everyone in the crowd was just as entranced, watching him glide across the stage with ease. Even as more dancers came on stage, the boy still stole the show. Gina found herself tearing up, especially at the end. Sylphide, the female lead, ended up dying. The boy, playing the male lead James, collapsed in despair as Sylphide hovered above him. As soon as the curtains closed, the crowd erupted into cheers. Gina stood up and clapped when the dancers came back for the last curtain call, ignoring the shocked look from EJ. She clapped harder when the boy bowed with a small smile on her face. On the way home, Ashlyn complained about not being able to perform and swore off ballet. EJ teased her and Gina stayed silent, the performance still fresh in her mind. 

From that day on, ballet didn’t seem so bad anymore. 

\---

_3 years later_

—-

“Carlos for the love of god- stay still!”

“How can you expect me to stay still when I look this good? I need to document this!”

“I’m not even _close_ to being done! You can take selfies later!”

Gina laughed when Kourtney took Carlos’s phone, much to his annoyance. They were in Kourtney’s dorm room and said teen was trying to work on her makeup looks. She had recently binged watched Euphoria and wanted to recreate looks for the show for her cosmetics class, so she asked Carlos and Gina to come over to be her models. They’ve been together for two hours and Kourtney hasn’t even gotten to Gina yet.

“Stay _still_ ,” Kourtney hissed.

Carlos yelped when she smacked him in the eye with a makeup brush. “Okay, I’ll stop! The violence wasn’t necessary.”

He immediately went quiet when Kourtney glared at him. Gina’s phone went off and she picked it up, groaning when she saw it was another text from Rico. She turned off her phone and fell back on Kourtney’s bed with a groan.

“Rico again?” Carlos asked.

“It’s like he doesn’t understand what no means,” Gina whined, throwing an arm across her face and covering her eyes. “We had to do _one_ dance duet together and he thinks it means something.”

“Didn’t he mess up?” Kourtney asked.

“Yes, and we almost failed because of it. I had to do all the heavy lifting,” Gina replied with a grimace. “And you want to hear why he messed up? It was because he was too busy ‘getting lost in my eyes’.”

Kourtney snorted and Carlos rolled his eyes. “I hate men.”

“You’re dating one.”

“Don’t drag Seb into this!”

Gina rolled her eyes fondly as her friends started to bicker again. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket but she ignored it, knowing it was another text from Rico. She was ignoring him because of how annoying he’s been, but she was also still mad. Their duet was immensely important and Rico screwed it up. 

By Juilliard's standards? That wasn’t acceptable. 

To this day, Gina still questioned how she got in. Completing the application was stressful enough. There were times where she considered just giving up, especially seeing how small the acceptance rate for Juilliard was. But they were one of the best performing arts schools in the country, and Gina wanted to pursue dance. EJ and Ashlyn refused to let her give up and helped her with everything. When Gina got her acceptance letter in the mail, she swore she was dreaming. Ashlyn screamed and burst into tears while EJ hugged Gina and spun her around. The move from Utah to New York wasn’t an easy one. Ashlyn ended up going to NYU which wasn’t far from Juilliard, but EJ had been attending Harvard in Massachusetts. It was hard to say goodbye, but Gina facetimed EJ and her parents anytime she could. 

Meeting her roommate was honestly one of the most awkward exchanges of her life. Walking into her dorm to find a complete mess wasn’t fun at all. Nini, her roommate, had apologized profusely and promised to keep things clean going forward. She was nice, but they barely saw each other since their schedules were booked so they got a chance to talk and bond. That’s why Gina was grateful that she met Kourtney and Carlos during orientation. Carlos was also studying dance, with a focus in contemporary, while Kourtney was a cosmetology major. She met Seb, Carlos’s boyfriend and an acting major, later on. Even if school was rough, Gina was glad she was able to find a support system. 

“Where is Seb anyway?” she asked.

“He had to go meet with his partner for their dance midterm,” Carlos replied. “It’s a ballet dance.”

Gina pretended to gag. Even if she warmed up to ballet after seeing La Sylphide, she still wasn’t a fan of the dance. She tried watching videos of the performance at home, but it wasn’t the same.

No one was as good as that boy. At least in her opinion. 

Eventually Kourtney called it a day, blaming Carlos for the lack of work she was able to get done. Gina rolled her eyes at their antics and waved before walking back to her dorm. She sighed when she saw Nini already sleeping. Gina sat on her bed and pulled out her phone, rolling her eyes at how many texts Rico sent her. She scrolled through his messages mindlessly, stopping when she found a message that didn’t sound flirty. 

**rico: so ik ur still mad about the whole dance mishap, so I got Miss Jenn to let us redo it for a better grade!**

**rico: this time i’ll be 100% committed**

**rico: i promise :)**

Gina gripped her phone tightly. Even if they barely passed, she didn’t want to work with Rico _again_. She sighed and got ready for bed, making a note to talk to Miss Jenn in the morning. When Gina did wake up, she frowned when she saw Nini’s bed was empty. It wasn’t anything new, but it still bothered her. She didn’t have any classes today so she usually went to the dance studio. People usually had to sign up for specific time slots, and Gina always had the room reserved in the afternoon on Fridays. She grabbed her dance bag and left, going to the cafeteria to grab breakfast. She settled for a granola bar and ate it on her way to Miss Jenn’s office. As Gina turned into the next hallway, someone crashed right into her. They dropped everything they were holding and groaned. The rest of Gina’s granola bar was on the ground and she resisted the urge to scream.

“Watch where you’re fucking going,” she hissed.

The person bent down to grab their things. “I’m _so_ sorry.”

“You should be! You made me drop my-”

Gina froze when the person looked up at her. It was a boy who looked close to her age. She didn’t know why, but he seemed familiar. They continued to stare at each other, the world around them going silent. The moment was broken when someone slammed a door down the hallway. The boy finished gathering his stuff and glared at Gina. “I said I was sorry okay? You don’t have to be so rude about it.”

“Well excuse me for being upset about losing my breakfast!” she snapped, picking up her fallen granola bar with a grimace. “You shouldn’t be running down the hallway anyway.”

The boy rolled his eyes and walked away, purposely shoving Gina’s shoulder. She shoved him right back and watched him go angrily. Gina threw her granola bar in the trash with more force than necessary and continued walking towards Miss Jenn’s office. She hated that she couldn’t stop thinking about the boy she ran into. Even if he did seem familiar, she wanted nothing to do with someone as rude as him. Gina took a deep breath to calm herself down as she finally got to Miss Jenn’s office. Right now wasn’t the time for her to lose her cool. She plastered a smile on her face and knocked on the door, entering when Miss Jenn called. 

“Gina! I’m assuming you’re here to talk about your dance duet with Rico?” she greeted.

Gina nodded and sat across from her. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she saw High School Musical playing on Miss Jenn’s laptop, but didn’t say anything about it. “Yeah, I actually wanted to say that I don’t think we need to redo it. Rico didn’t even talk to me before coming to you.”

“Honey, I think we both know it’s in your best interest to redo it,” Miss Jenn said with a raised eyebrow.

Gina blushed in embarrassment. “With all due respect Miss Jenn? I’m not the one who messed up. If I have to redo the dance, can I at _least_ have a different partner to do with?”

Miss Jenn didn’t say anything. Gina wrung her hands together nervously as her professor studied her silently.

“I’ll agree on one condition,” Miss Jenn finally replied.

“What’s the condition?” Gina asked nervously.

“You have to work with one of my ballet students.”

She froze in her seat. “But I-”

“I know you’re focused in hip-hop. But Gina, if I’m being honest? As a dancer, you can’t just focus on one thing. Sure, you can be a hip-hop dancer, but you should also have experience in jazz and contemporary,” Miss Jenn explained, cutting her off.

“I do have experience in other areas,” Gina argued.

“Not in ballet you don’t.”

“It’s not a requirement! The university said two other areas of dance. I chose jazz and contemporary.”

Miss Jenn crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. “Well, this is my only offer. Either you work with Rico again and possibly get another terrible grade, or work with one of my ballet students and get a good grade. It’s your choice.”

Gina clenched her fists tightly in her lap and resisted the urge to scream. She knew Miss Jenn wanted her to challenge herself, but this just felt ridiculous. But she couldn’t work with Rico again and she couldn’t afford another bad grade.

“Alright,” Gina muttered. “Ballet it is.”

Miss Jenn smiled and clapped her hands enthusiastically. “Perfect! I’ll email you the information on your partner. Trust me, this is going to be good for you.”

Gina smiled tightly, silently disagreeing. She left Miss Jenn’s office, relieved that she didn’t have to work with Rico, but dreading working with a ballet student. She opened her phone, her eyes going wide when she saw the time. Gina sprinted down the hallway, cursing as she did. If today wasn’t already bad enough, now Gina was late to her dance studio session. Even if she had a designated slot, someone could slip in if she’s not there on time. Gina slammed the door open to the entrance, startling Big Red. 

“What did that door ever do to you?” he asked.

“Shut up,” Gina fired back weakly, trying to catch her breath. 

She basically lived at the dance studio, and Big Red worked at the front desk. They quickly became acquainted and even if they weren’t very close, Gina still considered Big Red as a friend. She pulled herself together and stood up, groaning when she saw two people in the studio. 

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Gina muttered. “I was only like two minutes late!”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to be here for another four hours?”

Her head snapped towards Big Red. “ _What_?”

He showed her the binder of appointments. Gina’s eyes narrowed when she saw someone named ‘Ricky Bowen’ in the time slots she reserved. Her name was next to the night slot, which she’d never done before. She looked closer, her anger growing when she realized her name was erased. Gina turned towards the dance studio when she heard music start to play. Her jaw dropped when she saw Seb in the room, along with who she assumed was Ricky.

The same kid who bumped into her in the hallway.

She slammed the binder shut harshly and opened the door to the studio. Big Red called after her but Gina ignored him, marching up to the other teens. 

“Gina!” Seb exclaimed in surprise, turning down the music. “What are you doing here?”

“Granola bar girl?” Ricky asked with a smirk.

Gina growled and walked right up to him. “ _I_ was supposed to have this room. But someone decided to erase my fucking name!”

She pressed her finger into Ricky’s chest with each word. Seb looked guilty while Ricky just looked amused.

“Ricky, you didn’t have to do that,” Seb scolded. “We could’ve just waited!”

“She wasn’t even here when her time was supposed to start!” Ricky defended.

“By two minutes!” Gina snapped, throwing her hands in the air.

“Two minutes too late princess.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“Oh, I’m sorry your highness! Didn’t mean to upset you!”

Seb watched helplessly as their fight escalated. Big Red walked in and sighed, wondering how he hasn’t lost his sanity yet.

“Guys please-”

“You’re such an asshole, you know that?”

“That’s funny coming from you.”

“I swear if you-”

“ _GUYS_!”

They stopped and faced Big Red who had an irritated expression on his face. “Ricky and Seb, I’m giving you guys an hour. As soon as that’s over, Gina gets the rest of the time she was supposed to get. But if you guys don’t stop arguing, I’m kicking you out. Understood?”

Ricky went to argue, but with one glare from Big Red, he shut his mouth. Gina rolled her eyes and sat in the corner of the room. Seb sighed in relief and raised the volume of the music again. Big Red looked satisfied and went back to his desk. Ricky waved mockingly towards Gina and she flipped him off in retaliation. Gina was planning to just use her phone while she waited, but her curiosity got the best of her. Seb and Ricky got into their starting positions as Ashes by Celine Dion played in the background. 

As soon as they started to dance, Gina forgot how to breathe. 

Ricky’s eyes were closed as he glided across the floor, Seb following his steps. Gina didn’t know _how_ he managed to be so graceful on his feet. He started to twirl, and that’s when it clicked.

It was him. The boy from the La Sylphide performance. It _had_ to be. 

Gina didn’t believe in fate. She always thought that everything that happened in her life had a reason. But she couldn’t even begin to try and find a reason for this. Gina never thought she would meet that boy, let alone going to the same school as him. She could be wrong about this. But he seemed familiar as soon as Gina bumped into him, and no one had danced as well as that boy. Not until Ricky.

She seriously couldn’t believe this was happening.

Gina found herself clapping after they were done, blushing when Ricky made eye contact with her.

“Like what you see?” he asked smugly.

“Was clapping for my _friend_ ,” she hissed.

Ricky rolled his eyes and Seb smiled gratefully. They went through the dance and Gina hated that she couldn’t stop watching Ricky. She sighed in relief when Big Red came into the room, informing them it was her turn. Seb hugged her before he left but Ricky made no move to leave.

“Can I help you?” Gina snapped.

He walked up to her and leaned in close with a smirk on his face. “Next time, you might want to pay attention to how much you stare. You might’ve been clapping for Seb, but you had your eyes on me the entire time.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Gina scoffed with a small blush on her face.

His smirk widened and he leaned away. Big Red told him to hurry up, but Ricky kept his focus on Gina the entire time he walked out. “See you around, princess.”

He winked at her before he left. Gina huffed in annoyance and hooked her phone to the speakers. She had only known Ricky for a short amount of time and she already couldn’t stand him. As talented as he was, Gina wanted nothing to do with him. She silently hoped that was the last time she would run into Ricky, even if a small part of her would miss his dancing. Gina shook her head, trying to pull herself together. Changes by Dej Loaf played from the speakers and Gina turned the volume all the way up, wanting to drown everything else out. She just moved along to the music, feeling more relaxed as she went along. 

Dancing always made her feel better, no matter how bad of a mood she was in. Gina smiled at the end of the song approached, deciding to do something different. She did a cartwheel in the air with no hands, landing in a split. Gina sat properly as she tried to catch her breath, grabbing her phone to choose another song.

“You’re full of surprises aren’t you?”

She froze, looking up to see Ricky standing in the doorway.

“What are you-”

“I forgot my hoodie,” Ricky said, cutting her off.

“So instead of coming in as soon as you realized you forgot it, you stood there and watched me dance?” 

He blushed and Gina smirked. She stood up, spotting a hoodie near the speakers. She picked it up and gave it to Ricky, her smirk growing when he looked away.

“Looks like you couldn’t keep your eyes off of me either,” she mocked. 

He glared as his blush darkened. “Fuck you.”

Ricky walked out, Gina watching him go with amusement in her eyes. Big Red watched the entire exchange curiously. Before he could say anything, Gina went back into the studio to finish off her session. It was late by the time she was done, and Big Red locked the room behind her.

“You know, Ricky isn’t always an ass,” he noted.

Gina scoffed. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Trust me, I’ve known him for a while. I think you guys would actually get along if you tried.” Big Red offered. 

“Well I don’t plan on seeing him again,” Gina said firmly. “I’ll see you around.”

She waved and made her way towards her dorm. She opened her phone, groaning when she saw Miss Jenn emailed her. Gina sighed and opened it, her breath hitching as she read.

**Gina,**

**I decided to pair you with Ricky Bowen. He’s the best ballet student I know and I think you guys can learn from each other. I’ve attached all of his information below. Remember, this isn’t a punishment. I know you’ll do well and learn to appreciate ballet. Good luck!**

  * **Miss Jenn**



Nini jumped when Gina stomped into their dorm, throwing her bag on her desk harshly. Gina grabbed a pillow from her bed and screamed into it, Nini looking at her in concern. Of course, out of all the people Miss Jenn knew, she had to pair her with Ricky. 

This was going to be a nightmare. 

“Gina? Are you okay?” Nini asked hesitantly.

“Never better,” Gina replied, her voice muffled from the pillow. 

Nini wasn’t convinced but didn’t press her any further. Gina sighed and put the pillow down, reading over the email again. Miss Jenn attached Ricky’s number to the bottom of the email, and Gina started to consider sucking it up and working with Rico instead. She quickly changed her mind when Rico sent her another flirty text. Even if Ricky was an asshole, at least he would take the dance more seriously. Before Gina could change her mind, she put Ricky’s number into her phone and texted him.

**gina: hey.**

**ricky: who’s this?**

**gina: gina porter. i’m assuming miss jenn told u about the duet?**

**ricky: never thought this is how we would meet again princess**

**gina: shut up & answer the question.**

**ricky: yeah she did**

**ricky: i hope u know ur gonna have to listen to me. i’m the expert in this field**

**gina: whatever. the sooner we get this done the better**

**ricky: aw, u don’t wanna spend time with me :/**

**gina: no.**

**ricky: u wound me princess**

**ricky: but that’s fine by me. I’ll text u with more details tmrw**

**ricky: sweet dreams <3**

**gina: choke.**

The next few days were hell.

Ricky had an extremely strict schedule planned, which wasn’t easy to balance with her already hectic schedule. She had a feeling he was purposely being harsher than he needed to be, which just made Gina even angrier. It’s been a long time since Gina had done a ballet routine, but Ricky didn’t hold any sympathy at all. He criticized any little thing she did wrong, which led to many long arguments. Big Red constantly had to check on them and make sure they didn’t kill each other. Kourtney, Carlos, and Seb found the entire situation to be funny, which Gina didn’t appreciate. 

“This isn’t funny!” she complained.

They were sitting in the cafeteria together eating lunch. Gina glared when her friends continued to laugh and resisted the urge to curse them out.

“It’s hilarious!” Carlos argued with a smile.

“Look, if you guys keep fighting like you are, it’s not going to end well for either of you. At least make a truce or something. As soon as this is over, you can go back to hating each other. But for now, it’s best if you work together,” Kourtney advised.

“Besides, Ricky really isn’t bad,” Seb added. “I wouldn’t have asked him to be my partner for our ballet midterm if he was actually a bad person.”

Gina pouted angrily, knowing they were right. After lunch she made her way towards the dance studio, trying to think of what to say. She paused when she saw Ricky talking to Big Red at the front desk. Gina frowned, noticing how distressed he looked. She opened the door, catching their attention.

“Hey,” she greeted awkwardly.

Big Red waved but Ricky didn’t even look at her. She hesitantly walked up to them, starting to grow concerned when she saw how tired Ricky looked.

“We’re going to have to reschedule practice,” he muttered. “I have something to take care of.”

“What’s going on?” Gina demanded.

Ricky glared, the bags under his eyes becoming more prominent. “It’s none of your business.”

Before she could question him further, he was out the door. Gina yelled after him but Ricky didn’t bother to turn around. She couldn’t believe this. At this rate, they weren’t going to get anything done and Gina couldn’t afford that. Big Red reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Give him time,” he advised. “There’s a lot going on. Trust me, he had a good reason for leaving.”

“He could’ve at least told me why. I deserve to know,” Gina argued.

“This isn’t something that’s easy to talk about. If and when he feels comfortable, he’ll tell you.”

Her suspicion grew but didn’t argue any further. Nini texted her and said she had someone else in the dorm, so Gina decided to go down the library. She got some work done while she waited for Nini’s friend to leave. She frowned when she saw how much time had passed, wondering what was taking so long. Gina eventually decided to just go to her dorm, hoping Nini and her friend wouldn’t be too distracting when she tried to sleep. 

“Hey, you didn’t send a text but I need to sleep,” Gina said as she opened the door. “As long as you-”

Her jaw dropped when she saw Ricky sitting on Nini’s bed. Nini was holding his hand, but quickly stood up when she saw Gina. 

“So you ditched me for a girl? Unbelievable,” she scoffed.

Nini grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room, closing the door behind them. She looked apologetic, but also slightly angry.

“What happened to the ‘no boys at the dorm after 8’ rule? Do you know how long-”

“I’m sorry, I really am. But this was an emergency.”

“How-”

“He’s dealing with a lot, okay? I’m his best friend and he needed to talk. That’s all. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know in advance but don’t be mad at him. If you’re going to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”

Gina didn’t know what to say to that. The door opened and they turned, surprised to see Ricky. He gave Nini a look and she nodded, patting his arm before going back into the dorm. They stood in front of each other in silence. Gina looked up at him, her concern growing when she saw how red his eyes were.

“Things with my dad have been rough. That’s all I’m going to say but I’m sorry for blowing you off like that,” Ricky muttered.

“It’s fine,” Gina assured. “I’m just tired of all this fighting. Can we please just get along while we figure this dance out? We can go back to hating each other after it’s over. I can’t afford to fuck up again.”

Ricky held his hand out. “Truce?”

She smiled slightly and shook his hand. Gina blushed when she felt how warm his hand was and quickly pulled away, knowing they held hands longer than necessary. Ricky returned the smile before walking away. Gina bit her lip nervously as he left, a thought running across her mind.

“Hey!”

Ricky turned to look at her curiously. 

“I wasn’t being fair. I’m sorry for being pushy. Trust me when I say I understand what it’s like having problems with dads. So yeah, just wanted to apologize.”

She blushed at Ricky’s surprised expression. Gina didn’t give him a chance to respond and ran into her dorm room, closing the door with more force than necessary. She groaned and leaned against the door, covering her face with her hands. 

Gina didn’t know where that came from, but it was embarrassing nonetheless. 

“So, you know Ricky?” Nini asked awkwardly.

“He’s my new partner for my dance duet,” she replied, her face still covered with her hands.

“Has he drove you insane yet?”

Gina looked up, surprised to hear Nini say that. Gina found out that Nini and Ricky have been best friends since birth. Ricky originally didn’t even want to come to Juilliard, let alone apply. But Nini convinced him, which led them to where they are now. They ended up talking for the rest of the night, the awkward atmosphere around them finally lifting. The next morning, Nini was there when Gina woke up. 

From then on, things got a lot better. 

Nini met Seb, Kourtney, and Carlos, joining their group. Ricky and Gina still bickered during their rehearsals, but there was no heat behind their words. Even if she would never say it out loud, dancing with Ricky was fun. She still had to work on her ballet techniques, but watching him dance never got old. But being able to dance with him? Gina never wanted to stop. 

She blushed at the thought, ignoring the look Ricky gave her. 

“You didn’t do horrible today,” he said, packing his bag.

“Thanks,” Gina deadpanned.

“I’m being serious. You’re picking everything up really fast,” Ricky replied. “You’re probably the best dancer I’ve worked with.”

She smirked, leaning towards him. “Is that so?”

“Don’t let it get to your head,” he snapped with a blush on his face. 

Gina went to tease him again, but the door opening to the dance studio stopped her. She groaned when she saw it was Rico who waved at her enthusiastically. Ricky noticed her annoyance and smirked as Rico approached the other teen. Ever since she talked to Miss Jenn about switching partners, Gina refused to contact Rico. She avoided him if she saw him around campus and blocked his number since he kept blowing up her phone. Gina didn’t know what else to do at this point to show she wasn’t interested. Talking to Rico was like talking to a brick wall, and she was getting sick of it.

“Hey! It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other,” he noted.

“Well we both have things to do,” Gina muttered.

“How’s your dance coming? I’m still bummed we can’t do it together, but maybe we can still hang out and work on it?” Rico offered.

Ricky snorted when Gina’s eye twitched. “Rico, for the _last_ time. You’re nice, but I’m not interested in hanging out with you, okay? The reason we’re not doing the duet together is because I don’t want to do it with you. I hope your duet goes well, but _please_ just leave me alone.”

“I’m the only reason you’re even getting a second chance to do this!” Rico snapped, surprising the other teens with his sudden anger. “You should be thanking me!”

“You’re the reason we almost failed!” Gina shot back. “ I have nothing to thank you for! So get it through your thick skull: I want _nothing_ to do with you.”

“How can you just-”

Ricky stepped forward and glared. “You heard her dude. Just leave.”

Rico looked in between them angrily. He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him, not looking back. Gina sighed in relief, running a hand through her hair. 

“Does he bother you a lot?” Ricky asked.

“Unfortunately,” Gina muttered. “But thank you for that.”

He shrugged, opening the door for her. “I didn’t really do anything. You’re the one who told him off.”

They said bye to Big Red on their way out. Ricky didn’t usually walk with Gina back to her dorm, but after her encounter with Rico, he didn’t want to leave her alone. She noticed but didn’t say anything, silently grateful for his presence. They made small talk as they walked, Gina blushing when Ricky started to praise her ballet dancing again.

“Maybe I’ll get so good even you won’t be able to out-dance me,” Gina teased.

Ricky scoffed. “Okay, let’s not get crazy.”

The teens reached Gina’s dorm, standing outside the door. 

“Alright, I could out-dance you in a lot of things. But not ballet,” Gina admitted. 

Her blush darkened when Ricky smiled. She hesitated before leaning in, kissing his cheek. Ricky’s face turned red, his eyes going wide in surprise.

“Goodnight Ricky.”

She closed the door, groaning when she saw the smirk on Nini’s face. Gina laid down in bed and buried herself under the covers, ignoring her roommate's teasing. When they left to eat breakfast the next morning, they ran into Rico who just kept walking without sparing Gina a second glance. She sighed in relief, smiling when they saw Ricky and Big Red sitting in the corner of the cafeteria. Gina and Nini grabbed food before joining them. She blushed when Ricky moved to sit next to her and kissed her cheek.

“Good morning Gina,” he murmured with a smirk. 

Nini and Big Red shared a knowing look as Gina smacked Ricky’s arm, her blush darkening. She and Ricky started to hang out outside of their dance rehearsals. Sometimes with their other friends, but mostly alone with each other. Gina quickly learned that even if Ricky was a fantastic dancer, he was clumsy as hell. She made fun of him for it constantly, much to his annoyance. From how they acted now, no one would’ve guessed that they used to hate each other. But Gina wouldn’t even call it hate if she was being honest. She and Ricky had a lot more in common than she originally thought. 

Being with Ricky was as easy as breathing. 

“I still don’t understand the point of this movie,” he muttered, breaking Gina out of her thoughts. 

They were currently in Ricky’s dorm room, watching the Step Up movies from his laptop. They were supposed to be doing homework, but Gina made them stop as soon as she heard he’s never seen the movies. 

“There’s not a specific point to the movie. But it’s a good story and the dances are cool,” Gina retorted. “Would you rather watch La Sylphide?”

“Actually yes, I would,” Ricky taunted. 

She looked at him in disbelief. “Well alright then swan lake.”

They continued to watch the movie in silence. Ricky stopped paying attention and studied Gina curiously. She didn’t notice and kept her focus on the screen. Gina laughed at a scene and Ricky smiled slightly, blushing and looking away when he realized he was staring at her for way too long. He tried to pay attention to the movie but he kept looking back at Gina, sitting up when a thought occurred to him.

“You know, for someone who claims they hate ballet, you seem to know a lot. Almost no one knows about La Sylphide. So how do you know what it is?”

Gina quickly paused the movie, her face heating up. She groaned and ran her hands over her face, her embarrassment growing. Gina turned to face Ricky who looked both confused and a little amused. 

“Promise me you won’t laugh?” she asked.

“I can’t control my laughter princess.”

“Ricky.”

“ _Fine_ , I’ll hold back.”

Gina cleared her throat awkwardly. “When I was in high school, my sister Ashlyn had this ballet show. It was La Sylphide. She ended up not being able to perform, but that’s how I know about the show.”

“Wait, Ashlyn Caswell?” Ricky questioned.

Gina’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You know her?” 

“How could I forget? She threw up all over our dance instructor.”

They both started to laugh at the memory. Gina and EJ _still_ teased Ashlyn about it. 

“So it _was_ you,” she muttered.

Ricky looked confused. “When we met, I swear I saw you before but I couldn’t figure out where. But then I saw you dance, and that’s when it clicked.”

“Were you that entranced by my dancing?” he teased.

“Who wouldn’t be?”

Ricky froze, a small blush forming on his face from her words. Gina smiled nervously as her face grew hot, the atmosphere around them shifting. 

“I could say the same thing about you,” Ricky admitted quietly. 

They drifted closer to each other, the movie in front of them forgotten. Gina shivered when she felt Ricky’s breath on her face, his intense gaze locked on hers. The moment was broken when Ricky’s roommate, Kaden, burst into the room. Gina panicked and shoved Ricky, sending him flying off the bed. He groaned and Kaden doubled over from laughing so hard. 

When they saw each other the next day, they pretended the moment never happened. 

The deadline for the duet was approaching and Gina was stressing out. She knew that everything would go well, but she couldn’t help but worry. Dance was her life and she refused to mess up that badly again. But Ricky wasn’t Rico. He knew how important this was to her and he wouldn’t let her down. 

At least that’s what she thought until he disappeared off of the face of the earth.

Ricky stopped showing up to their practices, ignoring Gina’s multiple texts. Nini and Big Red had no idea where he was, which was even more concerning. She was angry at him for doing this, but overall more concerned. 

“You sure he isn’t dead or something?”

“EJ? Shut up.”

Gina flipped EJ off and he just smiled. She was on a facetime call with Ashlyn and EJ ranting about the whole situation. Nini had to go work on something for her orchestra class, leaving Gina alone in the dorm.

“He’s so closed off,” Gina whined. “He could’ve at least talked to me or something. He knows that this dance needs to go well. This isn’t the time to disappear!”

“Ricky sounds a lot like you when we first met you know,” Ashlyn noted.

“I was not like that,” Gina argued.

“You’re joking right?” EJ scoffed. “You refused to come out of your room for a good two weeks when you first moved in. The only person you would talk to was your mom! We know you were going through a tough time adjusting, but you iced the rest of us out for a long time.”

Gina turned away, knowing they were right. As mad as she was at Ricky, she had been in his place before. Even if she didn’t know exactly what was going on. She knew it probably had to do with his dad, but what could be so bad that he had to leave?

“It’s crazy that you guys go to the same school though. I never thought I would hear about him again unless he became some professional ballet dancer,” Ashlyn said.

“I don’t understand how I never ran into him before,” Gina muttered.

“Well you refused to come with EJ to pick me up from my ballet lessons before I quit,” Ashlyn pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “But all the kids in the class went to different schools. I barely talked to Ricky, but everyone knew him. He was the best dancer there.”

“He still is.”

She blushed when EJ and Ashlyn gave her a knowing look. This wasn’t the first time Gina had ranted about Ricky. When they first met, Gina talked to Ashlyn and EJ for almost three hours, yelling about how annoying he was. But lately, she’s had nothing but nice things to say about the other teen, even if he did still frustrate Gina from time to time. 

“Honestly Gi? Whenever he does come back, talk to him. Don’t let him run away again. Right now you guys need to work together, and that’s not going to end well if you keep secrets like this. Especially when it comes to dance,” EJ advised. 

“Since when did you get so wise?” Gina teased.

“What are you talking about? I always have been!” he snapped.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

They laughed when EJ gasped offensively. Gina talked to them for a couple more minutes before saying goodbye as Nini walked back into the dorm. She frowned when she saw how worried Nini looked.

“Is everything-”

“Ricky’s in the dance studio.”

That’s all Gina needed to hear before she ran out of the room. She almost tripped from how fast she was running but recovered quickly. Big Red wasn’t even surprised when she came barreling in. Gina froze when she saw Ricky in the dance studio. She wasn’t surprised that he was dancing, music blasting from the speakers.

But this was different.

There was a pained expression on Ricky’s face as he danced, his moves sharper and more violent. Gina teared up as she watched him, his heartbreak eminent. He collapsed and she ran in, turning off the music. Ricky was crying and Gina pulled him into a hug, running a hand through his curls. He held onto her tightly, his entire body trembling.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as his voice shook.

“It’s okay, just breath,” Gina assured, pulling him closer. “Talk to me.”

Ricky looked up and she cupped his face, wiping his tears away gently. Gina smiled reassuringly and he sighed, trying to calm himself down. 

“My parents divorced when I was younger. It was messy and my dad still isn’t over it. I haven’t talked to my mom since, but I honestly don’t think she cares about me anymore,” Ricky explained quietly. “It’s been _years_ and my dad is still torn up about it. He thinks drinking is the solution but it just makes everything worse. I keep trying to get him to stop but he won’t listen. He got fired at work and all he does is sit at home, drowning himself in alcohol.” 

Gina didn’t know what to say. 

“I’m here on a scholarship, but I have to work and send my dad money since he refuses to do it himself,” Ricky continued. “I was late for work the other day so they cut my pay and my dad called me to complain. We ended up getting into a huge fight.”

He started to cry again and Gina pulled him into another hug, pressing a light kiss on his forehead.

“He called me useless. That he wished he had a better son because apparently, I’m not enough.”

“ _No_ ,” Gina argued fiercely, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him up to face her. “You’re not useless, you hear me?”

“Gi-”

“He’s lucky that you’re still helping him out!” she snapped, cutting Ricky off. “You’re one of the best people I know and he’s lucky to call you his son. He’s _wrong_.”

He didn’t look convinced and Gina tightened her grip on his shoulders, shaking him slightly.

“My dad left me and my mom as soon as I was born,” she said, surprising the other teen. “For the longest time, I blamed myself. I didn’t think I was good enough for him or that maybe I just didn’t deserve love. But I know my worth now. It was his choice to leave, and he missed out because I’m pretty fucking amazing.”

Ricky laughed through his tears and Gina smiled. “The point is, you should know your worth too. Just because our parents don’t respect us doesn’t mean we shouldn’t respect ourselves.”

She let go of his shoulders and stood up, pulling Ricky up with her. 

“Thank you,” he muttered.

“I’m just telling the truth,” Gina replied. “Don’t let your dad get to you. I know things are tough right now, but take it from me: it does get better. Just give it time.”

Ricky nodded, but Gina could tell he was still doubting her words. She went towards the speaker and started to play music, holding out her hand.

“Dance with me?”

Ricky hesitated but held Gina’s hand, letting her take the lead. They moved across the dance floor together, letting their bodies move along with the music. Big Red watched them from the front desk in awe. 

He’s never seen two people so connected while dancing before. 

Ricky and Gina were focused in two completely different sides of dance, but they were still able to read each other. They mirrored each other perfectly, both of them moving across the floor with ease. Their emotions were out in the open, both of them vulnerable. Gina and Ricky held each other when the song ended, trying to catch their breath. They smiled at each other and laughed, tears forming in their eyes. Gina squealed in surprise when Ricky wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up and spinning her around. She ended up going with him back to his dorm room, holding him as he fell asleep. 

At this point, Gina knew they’ve passed the boundaries of friendship.

Her friends kept pressing her for details but she kept her mouth shut. She just wanted to focus on the dance right now, but it was hard to do that when she couldn’t look at Ricky without thinking about how cute he was. Things were way easier when they hated each other, but Gina still wouldn’t change anything. Miss Jenn had been stopping by to check in on their progress and was very pleased with what she saw. Gina almost passed out when she commented on their chemistry and had the audacity to wink afterward. 

She didn’t know how much longer she could keep this up. 

“Everyone shut up and listen! I have news,” Kourtney announced. 

Gina was with Carlos, Seb, and Nini in the library when Kourtney approached them. Ricky and Big Red were supposed to join them later on. Ricky was working extra shifts at his job at the local campus coffee shop, which is why he had to cancel some of their sessions. Big Red was at the dance studio, but his shift was ending early today.

“If this is about Mr. Mazzara and his secret lover, I don’t want to hear it,” Carlos said. “He creeps me out and I’m still convinced he’s married to a robot.”

“No, it’s not about him. It’s about the party Bianca is throwing tonight,” Kourtney replied with a mischievous smile. “We’re definitely going.” 

“A party?”

Gina jumped when Ricky appeared, blushing when he smirked. He sat down next to her and threw an arm around the back of her chair. Gina leaned into him, shooting Carlos a glare when he smirked.

“In that case, I call being the designated driver. I don’t want to drink anything,” Seb said.

“You’re just saying that because after one drink you’ll already be asleep,” Carlos teased.

He blushed and hit his boyfriend’s arm, his blush darkening when everyone laughed. Big Red eventually joined them as they went over their plans. Bianca lived in an apartment off-campus which wasn’t too far, but Kourtney still wanted to leave a little early. They planned to meet at Seb’s dorm later and went their separate ways. Nini giggled and held Gina’s hand as they walked back to their dorm.

“This is so exciting! Our first college party!” she exclaimed.

“I’m only going for Kourtney,” Gina protested. 

“We both know that’s not true. Especially because Ricky’s going to be there,” Nini teased. 

She blushed and shoved the other girl, covering her ears and groaning as Nini continued to tease her. But as much as she hated to admit it, Gina made sure to pick a nice outfit as Nini’s words echoed in her head. She ended up helping Nini pick out an outfit, which wasn’t easy. Gina loved her, but her fashion sense was terrible. She ended up letting Nini borrow some of her clothes instead. Someone knocked on their door and Gina frowned, wondering who it could be. She opened the door and saw Ricky standing there with Big Red. 

“Hey guys,” she greeted. “I thought we were meeting up at Seb’s dorm?”

“Yeah, but we finished early and figured we could walk there together,” Big Red replied.

Ricky stayed silent, his eyes locked on Gina. She blushed at his intense gaze but nodded, moving out of the way to let them in. Nini grabbed Big Red’s hand and pulled him with her, convincing him to let her do his makeup. Gina smiled awkwardly at Ricky who still hasn’t said a word.

“So-”

“You look really pretty.”

Gina’s breath hitched and felt her face heat up. Ricky rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and averted his eyes. 

“Thank you,” Gina replied. “You look pretty too.”

“I always do princess,” Ricky teased. 

“You guys can flirt later! We have a party to get to!” Nini cut in, clapping her hands.

They both blushed but followed the other teens out the door. Big Red and Nini walked ahead of them, rambling about what they'd heard about the party. Ricky and Gina were close as they walked behind them, their shoulders brushing. Their hands swung between them as they walked, almost touching. Ricky hesitated before reaching out and touching Gina’s hand. She smiled and held his hand properly, squeezing it reassuringly. Kourtney and Carlos screamed when they arrived while Seb just smiled. They walked to the parking lot and got into his car before driving off. They turned the radio all the way up and sang along to the songs playing, laughing as they did. 

Ricky and Gina still held hands the entire time.

When they arrived, the party was already in full swing. Bianca opened the door with a smile.

“Glad you guys could make it!” she squealed. “Food and drinks in the kitchen, games in the basement. Have fun and _please_ don’t break anything.”

They nodded and walked in, going straight towards the kitchen. Carlos and Kourtney didn’t hesitate before drinking, ignoring Seb’s warnings. Nini and Big Red grabbed snacks and headed off to the basement to see what games Bianca had. Gina watched in amusement as Carlos and Kourtney dragged Seb into the crowd, leaving her alone with Ricky.

“Didn’t know Juilliard kids knew how to party,” he muttered.

“We’re going to school with a bunch of theatre dorks. They know how to party,” Gina said with a smirk. 

Ricky rolled his eyes and took a sip from his drink, wincing after he did. He glared when Gina laughed at him.

“What? You think you can do better?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Gina grabbed his cup and downed the rest of his drink without even flinching. Ricky’s jaw-dropped when she threw her hands in the air and cheered.

“Keep up swan lake,” she taunted. 

She grabbed another drink and flipped him off, walking towards the dance floor. Ricky scoffed and watched her go with a smile on his face. Gina didn’t know what song was playing, but it didn’t matter to her. She closed her eyes and moved along with the music, her moves still just as good even if she was slightly tipsy. A crowd formed around Gina and cheered her on. Ricky watched her, blushing when she looked him in the eye and smirked. He frowned when he saw Rico in the crowd, narrowing his eyes when he approached Gina. Ricky snorted when she whipped her hair in his face and flipped him off. His amusement vanished when Gina moved towards him with a dangerous look in her eyes. He yelped when she grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him along, the crowd cheering around them. 

“Live a little!” Gina yelled over the crowd.

Ricky rolled his eyes but didn’t pull away. “Whatever you say, your highness.” 

Their friends joined the crowd and cheered them on. Gina and Ricky laughed as they danced, too caught up in each other to notice anyone else. Ricky dipped Gina and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He leaned his forehead against hers as they caught their breath. 

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Gina said lightly.

“Nothing is ever bad when I’m with you,” Ricky admitted. 

She smiled shyly, leaning up to kiss his cheek. Their friends pushed through the crowd and hugged them, breaking the moment. The rest of the party was uneventful, other than Gina and Carlos competing to see who could drink more. 

Gina claimed an immediate victory when Carlos threw up in the sink. 

Seb practically had to drag all of them out when it started to get late. Ricky helped Gina into the car, wrapping his jacket around her shoulders. They all agreed to spend the night in Seb’s dorm, not wanting to get caught by their RA’s if they went off alone. Big Red didn’t drink that much, so he helped Seb guide everyone to his dorm. Nini and Carlos immediately passed out, much to Seb’s relief. Everyone else eventually fell asleep, except for Ricky and Gina. They were near Seb’s closet, Gina resting her head on Ricky’s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on top of hers. 

“Did you mean what you said?” she asked quietly. “That nothing is bad when you’re with me?”

“Of course I did,” Ricky replied. 

“Good,” Gina said, snuggling closer towards him. “I feel the same way. Dancing with you is one of the best feelings in the world.”

He blushed furiously and held her tighter. “Goodnight swan lake.”

“Sweet dreams princess.”

Gina had a terrible hangover when she woke up the next morning, but Ricky was there to help her through it. She blushed in embarrassment when the events from the night before settled in. Gina knew how she felt about Ricky, and she had a strong feeling he knew too.

Now it all depended on who would make the first move. 

But that didn’t seem as important to Gina when the day of their performance finally arrived. Ricky assured her that she was ready, but she was still stressed. Miss Jenn could be harsh, and even if they danced perfectly, she would still find something wrong with it. Gina paced around her dorm as she waited for Ricky so they could go down to the dance studio. Nini was reassuring her everything would be fine along with EJ and Ashlyn over facetime.

“Gina, you’re going to be fine,” Nini said gently.

“You’ve been practicing for so long and even if you’re not a ballet dancer, you picked up everything really fast! You got this,” EJ added. 

“Besides, if anything goes wrong, just blame Ricky! He’s the one who came up with the choreography,” Ashlyn pointed out. 

Gina giggled while EJ and Nini both scolded her. Gina’s heart started to race when someone knocked on their door, knowing it was Ricky. Ashlyn and EJ wished her luck one last time before hanging up. Nini hugged her and Gina took a deep breath before walking up to the door and opening it. 

What she didn’t expect to see was Ricky standing there, looking ridiculous in a white tutu. 

Gina covered her mouth as she laughed. She started to laugh even harder when she noticed he was wearing a headband with a white feather on it. 

“ _What_ are you wearing?” Gina wheezed.

“You keep calling me swan lake, so I got inspired,” Ricky explained. “Might as well look the part since you keep calling me swan lake.”

Her jaw dropped when he pulled out a tiara with a pink trail, placing it on her head. He pulled a pink tutu out of his back with a smirk. “I couldn’t forget an outfit for the princess.”

Gina threw her arms around Ricky’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug. He hugged her back tightly, kissing the side of her head.

“This is the dorkiest thing anyone has ever done for me,” she laughed.

“Well if we’re going to do this, we might as well have some fun,” Ricky said. “Maybe Miss Jenn will give you extra points for costumes.”

“Absolutely not,” Gina deadpanned. 

She ignored how offended he looked and shoved him out the door, waving goodbye to Nini before leaving. Ricky held Gina’s hand the entire walk to the dance studio, rubbing her hand with his thumb gently as he rambled mindlessly. Miss Jenn smiled at them when they arrived, her smile growing when she saw what they were wearing. Big Red offered them a thumbs up as they walked past the desk. Gina smiled at him gratefully before following Ricky inside. 

“You guys can start whenever you’re ready,” she said as they put their stuff down.

Gina nodded but Ricky could tell how tense she was. He held her hands, kissing the back of them gently to help calm her down.

“Just keep your eyes on me okay?” he whispered. “We got this.”

She squeezed his hands tightly and went to start the music. Gina kept her eyes on Ricky the entire time, forgetting that Miss Jenn was even watching them. She clapped enthusiastically as they finished with a wide smile on her face. 

“I have nothing to say except _wow_ ,” Miss Jenn said. “Gina, congratulations on getting your first perfect score!”

Gina’s jaw dropped and Ricky cheered, running around the room. Miss Jenn walked up to Gina and hugged her, pulling back and squeezing her shoulders. “I guess I was right. You guys did learn something from each other, didn’t you?”

Gina turned to look at Ricky who was still running around the room like an idiot. She laughed and watched him fondly.

“Yeah, I guess we did,” she agreed.

Miss Jenn hugged her one last time before leaving. Gina walked up to Ricky who finally stopped running and smiled at her.

“See! What did I-”

She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down, pressing her lips against his. Ricky didn’t hesitate before kissing her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against his chest. Gina felt like she was on cloud nine, smiling when Ricky went back in for another kiss. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he admitted.

“You and me both,” Gina agreed. 

They heard Big Red cheer from the front desk and looked at him suspiciously. He blushed in embarrassment when he saw he got caught and smiled sheepishly.

“Nini, Seb, and I had a feeling you guys were going to get together after your duet but Carlos and Kourtney disagreed. So we made a bet,” he confessed. 

“You guys are ridiculous,” Gina deadpanned.

“But now we have an extra ten dollars in our pockets because of it,” Big Red replied.

The teens rolled their eyes, focusing back on each other. 

“I’m going to say something cheesy,” Gina warned.

“I’ll try not to judge you too hard,” Ricky teased.

“I didn’t believe in fate before I met you.”

His face turned red and he sputtered, not expecting that at all. Gina laughed and cupped Ricky’s face in her hands. “That stupid ballet show introduced me to you. We didn’t know each other then, but I guess it wasn’t our time. But our time is now, and I want to spend every second of it with you.”

“I can’t believe _the_ Gina Porter is being mushy right now,” Ricky said in disbelief. 

“You have yourself to blame for that,” Gina murmured, leaning in to kiss him again. 

From that day on, Gina never said a bad thing about ballet again. Ricky teased her relentlessly when she signed up for a beginners ballet class, which earned him a punch. That didn’t stop him from teasing her even more when Gina suggested to Miss Jenn that La Sylphide could be fun to run over. But Gina got him back when Big Red told her Ricky was looking into hip-hop classes. They went to the dance studio almost everyday, dancing blissfully together. Gina laughed when Ricky fell over doing a cartwheel, squealing when he pulled her down with him.

She had finally found her lifelong dance partner, and Gina wouldn’t have it any other way. 


End file.
